WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.5, Multiple Ways, is a Level AA requirement: pages can be found in more than one way.
Read the criterion in the W3C Recommendation, WCAG 2.2 (opens in a new tab).
How BearScan checks it
Pages can be found in more than one way
Checked automatically: reads the HTML. Severity: low. Users who cannot use one navigation method, such as a deep menu, need another, such as search or a site map. The cost of missing one is friction rather than exclusion.
An approximation: Looks on the homepage for navigation (a navigation landmark, or three or more links in its header or navigation), search (a search input, landmark or form, or a link or button the decisions model reads as search) and a link it reads as a site map. Two of those is accepted as two ways without verifying that each reaches every page. A second way offered on any sampled layout of the site (a search, site map, index, or a page listing a section or the whole site, read by the decisions model from the link labels) completes a homepage that offers one. A site of one page is not applicable. With one way and a complete crawl, whose homepage links were all read, it fails; a truncated crawl or unread links ask for review. Pages that are steps in a process are not exempted.
How to fix it. Offer at least two of: site navigation, a search function, an HTML site map, or a table of contents linking every page.
All WCAG 2.2 criteria · Next: 2.4.6 Headings and Labels
Questions
Is WCAG 2.4.5 required by the ADA?
The ADA doesn't name a technical standard for businesses, but the Justice Department's 2022 guidance points businesses to WCAG, and its 2024 rule for state and local governments adopted WCAG 2.1 Level AA, which includes 2.4.5.
Can an automated tool check WCAG 2.4.5?
Mostly. BearScan checks it automatically (reads the HTML). A clean result still isn't proof every page passes, only the pages scanned.
How do I fix a WCAG 2.4.5 failure?
Offer at least two of: site navigation, a search function, an HTML site map, or a table of contents linking every page.